C Man Gong Scale on the Piano - Improvisation and Composition

The C Man Gong uses six notes per octave. Because of this same reason it is a member of the so called Hexatonic -scales that have Six-note (or Six-tone).
On the piano keyboard, it is made up of three black keys: Eb, Ab, and Bb and two white keys: C, and F. This combination makes this scale - as well as the C Qing Shang, C Qing Yu, and C Quan Ming - as great choices for composing or improvising Chinese music.

If we take a look a the key signature of the C Man Gong Scale we can find it has three flats and no sharps. Therefore, on sheet music you will find three accidentals on the score. The notes of this scale are: C, Eb, F, Ab, and Bb.

How to play the C Man Gong scale?

1

To play the C Man Gong on your piano, start on the Root note.
Play C, the first note of the scale.

2

Continue with rest of the notes
that shape the scale, play Eb, F, Ab, and Bb.

3

Return to the home of the C Man Gong scale.
Play again C -the tonic of the scale- to mark its ending.

How to play the scale in descending fashion?

1

Begin on the last note.
Play the C, the last (and first) note of the scale.

2

Go down.
Play Bb, Ab, F, and Eb.

3

Reach the home again.
Establish tonality by playing the tonic of the C Man Gong scale: C.

4

Tip.
If you want to learn how to improvise or compose your own music using the C Man Gong scale or any other scale, check out our piano improvisation and composition lessons and enjoy thousands of interactive multimedia piano animations.